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“Three or four teams” interested in Jim Thome

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Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe went over the wealth of free agents left on the market earlier this morning. We’ve covered a couple of them here today, including Joe Crede and Joel Pineiro, but Scott Merkin of MLB.com passes along word that three or four teams -- including the Rays -- have contacted free agent designated hitter Jim Thome. He does so with the caveat that “nothing is contractually-imminent.”

Aside from the “Thinnest rumor of the year,” we haven’t heard a whole lot about the 39-year-old slugger this winter. And teams that he would make a great deal of sense for (White Sox, Rangers, Angels) look to have settled on other options. That said, Thome could be a nice fit as part of a lefty-swinging DH-tandem with Pat Burrell in Tampa.

Thome’s OPS slipped to 847 last season, but he put up an 881 mark and .383 on-base percentage against right-handers. Meanwhile, Burrell has a 916 career OPS and .403 on-base percentage against left-handers, even though he failed to hit a home run in 119 at-bats against southpaws last season.